


i remember waiting

by thememoriesfire



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-30
Updated: 2011-06-30
Packaged: 2017-10-20 21:19:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/217197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thememoriesfire/pseuds/thememoriesfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Other people's parents fight; not hers.  [Future AU.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	i remember waiting

She’s actually too shell-shocked to leave the room, because:  _what just happened?_

Rachel looks like she’s torn between exploding and crying.  Quinn looks like she always does, but her hands are shaking and she’s chewing on her lip. 

They’re on opposite ends of the room, in some sort of weird imitation of a Western draw.  Some part of her thinks that Quinn will shoot first; it’s just sort of how they are.  She’s never had any doubts about which of her parents to work over if she needs a favor, and which one would lay down the line, and Quinn is about lines.  (Rachel is just like Grandpa Eli, and really, if she so much as bats her eyelashes sometimes…)

“We’ve raised a  _good person_ ,” Rachel says, thickly, when Quinn just keeps staring at her.  ”She’s decent, and honest, and kind.  And you’re willing to just throw her to the wolves and see what they’ll make of her.  For the opportunity to learn  _what_ , exactly?  How to do a cartwheel?”

Quinn exhales slowly and says, “If she  _is_  in fact decent, honest and kind, this won’t change her.”

“Like it didn’t change  _you_?” Rachel asks, sharply.

It’s like watching the start of a tennis match.  A pretty engrossing one, actually, because Quinn goes seriously white in the face and then levels her with a look that basically just screams,  _get out of the room, this is going to get ugly_.

*

Some part of Hayley would really like to rewind for like, an hour, and come home again and dump her bag under the kitchen counter and say something  _other_  than, “So I think I’m going to try out for the cheerleading squad.”

*

Her parents don’t fight.

Other people’s parents do.  Her best friends, Ashley and Derek; their parents fight all the time.  She can usually hear their mom yelling, “Hell to the  _no_ ” about something that Derek’s probably done by the time she even pulls up in their driveway on her ten-speed, and it seems completely normal for that to happen.  Even when their dad is kind of a dumbass, all, “Babe, chill, it’ll be cool” whenever one of Derek’s terrible science experiments goes wrong, they argue and then they kiss and then they make up.

People fight  _all the time_.  Kids at school do; when she dumped Bobby Puckerman at the end of 8th grade, he punched Alex Hudson in the face because apparently the only reason she could’ve wanted to move on from him was because of some other guy or something.  

Yeah.  Everyone fights.

But not her parents, so this is kind of terrifying, and the only thing she can think to do is call Uncle Kurt.

*

He takes her out to McDonald’s—Rachel would  _freak_ , but what Rachel doesn’t know won’t kill her—and orders her a milkshake before sitting down across from her.

“I just don’t understand what I did,” she says, a little miserably.  Like she’s not fourteen and ready to go and kick ass at high school.  (She’s going to be popular; it’s inevitable, because she’s both pretty and talented and basically nice most of the time.  They didn’t really  _do_  popular in middle school, but she’s ready for it when it comes.)

“You didn’t do anything, honey,” Uncle Kurt says, taking a sip of his coffee and crossing his legs.  

(She  _knows_  he’s her father.  It’s one of those things that Quinn had insisted on telling her about, and Rachel had protested a little because developmentally something or other, but Quinn hadn’t wanted to hear a single argument to the contrary.

It’s probably because of her sister Beth, actually.  That’s something else they don’t talk about much.)

“All I said is that the Mastodons were having try-outs soon, and—”

Uncle Kurt levels her with a curious look; it’s a little probing, actually.  ”Have your moms ever told you how they met?”

“Well, sure,” Hayley says, leaning back in her seat and pulling her knees up to her chest.  ”Rachel was doing  _Les Mis_  and Quinn was in town for some sort of financial crime conference, because she still worked as an auditor back then, and she went to see Rachel’s show and then hung around to meet her backstage because she was a big fan.”

Uncle Kurt nearly spits out a mouthful of coffee when she says, “It’s super romantic, don’t you think?”

“I’m going to kill one of them.  Probably Rachel, actually, because this doesn’t sound moronic enough to have come from Quinn,” he mutters.

“What?” she asks.

Uncle Kurt sighs and blows on the coffee.  It’s hot enough to cause like third degree burns; she learned about it in her Supreme Court class earlier this week.  ”Hay, your parents met in high school.”

She thinks he’s kidding and laughs, and he shakes his head and says, “Your—Quinn was the head cheerleader, and her favorite activity for two years was, um…”

“Was  _what_?” she asks, because she’s even more confused now; clearly she’s following in her mother’s footsteps, and most parents would completely dig that.

Uncle Kurt takes a deep breath and runs a hand through his hair and then just says, “Before she got pregnant with Beth, your mother was kind of a complete … jerk, and her favorite activity was belittling a certain very talented but kind of out-there individual who co-ran the school’s Glee club.”

Hayley blinks at him once, and then twice, and then just slouches in her booth.  ”Wow.”

“It’s—I don’t think either of them like being reminded. In Quinn’s defence, Rachel  _was_  spectacularly annoying until about the start of our senior year.”

“That’s not much of a defence.  I mean.  Did she do anything wrong, to Quinn?”

Uncle Kurt’s mouth sets for a moment, but then he sighs and says, “Nothing that’s out of the ordinary in high school, no.  Rachel was just—difficult for some people to take.”

“But…”  Hayley hesitates, because this is like her  _mom_ , but still.  ”She’s like the nicest person I know.  Like, not just in adults.   _Ever_.”

Uncle Kurt smiles a little sadly.  ”Yeah.”

“So was it just because she was… talented?” Hayley asks, swallowing hard on the last word, because somehow that hurts.  That hurts a  _lot_ , because she already knows now that she could go to an Ivy League in a few years time but what she really wants to do is go to Juilliard for the piano.  She’s _good_  enough.  Rachel always tells her that she is (and Rachel would know).

Suddenly, the fact that Quinn has been trying her to get to think of some alternative plans as well makes a lot more sense.

“So… they hated each other,” she finally says, when Uncle Kurt is looking at her sympathetically and like he’s not sure what else to add.

He laughs for a second and says, “No.  I think that no matter what  _else_  we can say about those days, they never hated each other.  Rachel always wanted to be Quinn’s friend, and Quinn… well, she invented a financial crime conference that she didn’t have to attend at all just to be able to apologize to your mom.”

“That’s kind of sweet.  And kind of gross,” Hayley says, finishing the last of her milkshake.  ”Maybe if she hadn’t sucked so hard in high school, she wouldn’t have had to do anything that stupid.”

“Her life wasn’t easy, back then,” Uncle Kurt says, gently. 

Hayley purses her lips and looks at him.  ”I’m still going to try out for cheerleading, though.”

Uncle Kurt laughs and reaches for her hand, tangling their fingers together.  ”Sweetie, I had  _no_ doubts.”

*

Quinn’s in the kitchen when she gets back, doing some dishes even though they obviously have a machine.

“So,” Hayley says, stepping in next to her and reaching for a towel automatically.  ”Uncle Kurt tells me that you were kind of sucky in high school and like, bullied Rach.”

Quinn’s face tightens a little and then she exhales softly.  Here’s the thing though; she doesn’t  _lie_.  Ever.  So she just nods after a moment and gives Hayley a miserable smile.  ”For two years.  Until Beth, anyway.  Things changed a little for the better after that, but … your mom and I, we fought about the same guy for years.  And not in a clean, fair way.”

“Who was the guy?” Hayley asks, reaching for a plate and drying it off carefully.  (Rachel’s a stickler for how clean everything is, always.)

Quinn blushes a bit and says, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.  It was a long time ago, Hay.  I just—we don’t really talk about it.  I apologized for being horrible to her a long time ago, and I didn’t realize…”

“Why didn’t you like her?” Hayley asks, without wanting to.  It’s just one of those things; she’s just  _like_  her mom, even though Quinn’s the one who gave birth to her, and it feels like something she needs to know.  Just to prepare herself.

Quinn leans against the counter for a moment and then says, “Because she was… so much better than the rest of us.  She was always going to leave Lima, and become brilliant.  And she  _knew_  it.”  There’s another sad smile and then Quinn says, “Also, I had this ridiculous crush on her that I really didn’t want.”

“Why wouldn’t you want to have a crush on her?” Hayley asks, with a frown; at the miserable look on Quinn’s face she actually gasps.  ”Were you _homophobic_  when you were younger?”

“Not in the way that you think. But there’s a reason why we don’t see my parents,” Quinn says, softly.  ”I just… didn’t know what to do.  She was always special, and she was kind to me even when I didn’t deserve it.”  Quinn gives her a small smile and then says, “At the risk of sounding like something from a Disney movie, without even  _trying_ , she turned my whole world upside down.”

Hayley makes a small gagging noise and then says, “Being mean to others is really kind of stupid, you know.”

“Yeah,” Quinn says.

“And I  _am_  going to try out, and it’s not going to turn me into a jerk.”

Quinn lets the drain run and then pulls Hayley into a small, very rare hug.  ”I know, baby.  And so does Rachel.  It wasn’t cheerleading that turned me into a jerk.  If it’s something you want, you  _know_  she’ll support you.”

“I just… want to not be that girl with the piano, you know?” Hayley mumbles.  ”I want kids to think that I’m normal.”

“I get it,” Quinn says, pressing a kiss to her head.  ”But Rachel doesn’t worry about stuff like that; she never has.  So you’re going to have to pitch it to her like you did judo, okay?”

Hayley winces.  ”That really did seem like a good idea at the time.”

“I know.  And _thankfully_ , we were able to fix your nose,” Quinn says, a little bit of laughter bubbling up in her chest right where Hayley’s face is pressed.

“You’re one to talk.  Uncle Kurt told me you were like,  _super_  gross in middle school and  _that_  nose isn’t real,” Hayley says.

Quinn freezes.  ”I’m going to kill that little bastard.”

“Mom would’ve loved you anyway, you know,” Hayley says, pulling back for a moment.

Quinn has that completely gross smitten look on her face that Hayley sees _way_  too often for her liking.  (But maybe it’s for the best; her parents don’t fight the way that Ashley and Derek’s do, and that feels pretty special right now.)

*

Rachel’s curled up in her reading chair with a script, and she slides off her reading glasses when Hayley pads into the room.

The reading chair hasn’t been big enough for both of them in years now, but it doesn’t stop them from settling in it anyway.

“I’m sorry I had a disproportionate reaction.  You couldn’t have known, and it wasn’t your fault,” Rachel says, immediately.

Their number one household rule is to apologize  _immediately_.  Hayley is done wondering  _why,_ after tonight.

“Were you afraid of her in high school?” she asks, laying her head against Rachel’s chest, closing her eyes when a hand starts moving through her hair immediately.

(She’s  _way_ too old for this, and almost taller than Rachel is by now.  Still.)

“Sometimes.  She had her moments of … she kept a lot inside, and sometimes I was a little worried that she was just going to explode.  But no, I wasn’t afraid of her,” Rachel says, softly.  ”I wanted to  _be_  her.  And you know what, kitten?”

“Hm?”

“That’s the part that bothers me about this.  You shouldn’t—”  Rachel sighs in frustration.  ”I pretended to be happy with who I was.  Confident about my looks, my talent.  I really worked hard on making it seem like I was okay.  But at the end of the day, when I went home, I spent hours wondering what it was like to be Quinn Fabray, and to date the quarterback, and to have everyone worship the ground I walked on.”

“She wasn’t  _nice_ , though.  Was she?” Hayley asks, blinking her eyes open again.

“No, she wasn’t nice.  But until I learned otherwise, I thought  _she_  was perfect.  And I was just… me.”  

Rachel pauses on that for a moment and then runs a hand past Hayley’s cheek.

“I’m going to tell you the same thing my dads told me, because they were right even if I didn’t believe it, okay?”  She looks at Hayley intently, and waits for a nod.  ”Who you are, on the inside, will get you places that people who  _only_  have stuff going for them the outside  _never_  get to go.  You won’t always be appreciated, not at this age, but one day you will realize that it doesn’t matter so much what the cheerleaders and jocks at your school think of you.  You’ll realize that you lived honestly, and that’s all that matters.”

Hayley smiles a little and says, “That’s Grandpa Leroy, isn’t it?”

Rachel makes a noise.

“No, but come on, it’s  _so_  sappy.”

“He meant it, and so do I.”

“Even I agree with it, Hayles,” Quinn says, from the doorway.

She leans there a lot, just watching the two of them; reading different books in the same chair, and occasionally playing some video game on the 4Ds together.  (Rachel sucks  _so_  hard at video games that it sort of goes from being not-fun to play against her to being totally  _amazing_  to play against her.)

“So… since I’ve been told a blatant  _lie_  about how you two met, can I get the real story now?” Hayley asks, glancing between them.

Rachel chuckles and says, “Oh, boy.”

Quinn takes a few more steps into the room and sits down on the stool in front of the chair, reaching for Rachel’s foot immediately and giving it a squeeze.  ”Well.  I was dating Finn Hudson—”

“Uncle  _Finn_?” Hayley asks, before making a face.  ”He’s—balding.  And  _fat_.  That’s the guy you two fought about?”

Rachel bites her lip and Quinn rolls her eyes.  ”It was a long time ago, okay. Trust me, he was a catch, back then.”

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly—” Rachel starts saying, before laughing when Quinn pinches her toe.

“Anyway.  I was dating Finn, and your mother was this shrewd, obnoxious harpy who was intent on stealing him from me so he’d join the show choir team.”

“Shrewd, obnoxious—” Rachel repeats, indignant, before kicking at Quinn’s knee.  ”I’ll have you know that what she really means is that she was threatened by the enormity of my voice and how it made Finn Hudson swoon like a fainting goat every time he heard it.”

Quinn laughs.  ”Fainting goat sounds about right.”

“So, anyway, for two years we fought about him; and your mother had a baby somewhere inbetween, which—remind me to talk to you about sensible decision-making sexually sometime soon, sweetheart.  Don’t drink wine coolers,” Rachel says, a little more sternly.

“Really just don’t.  Especially not around Bobby Puckerman,” Quinn says, making a face.

“You guys are so weird,” Hayley says, laughing when Rachel’s arm wraps around her a little more tightly.

“Anyway, so your mom stopped being a cheerleader after that… twice.  And then found her heart.  Well, that took another few years, actually.  She slapped me at junior prom, once.”

“You  _slapped_  her?” Hayley asks, astonished.  The number  _two_  rule in the house is “do not take your anger out on things with your hands.”

It’s pretty clear where the rulebook came from when Quinn goes a little pink in the face and says, “It wasn’t my proudest moment.”

“She apologized immediately, and then… showed me a part of herself that I’d always hoped was there, but could never really see,” Rachel says, voice trailing off near the end.

“Is that when—” Quinn asks, with a small smile.

“I think it might’ve been,” Rachel says.

Hayley knows she has about two seconds to leave the room before they start necking, because: her parents don’t fight, but they  _do_  engage in gross violations of each other’s personal space  _all the time_.

“So it’s fine if I try out, right? I promise not to start bullying the kids in the school band or anything.  I mean, I’m one of them, so.”

Rachel presses a kiss to her temple and says, “I hope you inherited your mother’s grace and flexibility, and not your Uncle Kurt’s.”

“Amen,” Quinn says, before giving Hayley a hand and helping her back to her feet.  ”Rufus needs a walk, by the way, and since you skirted on all your table-setting obligations today…”

“Ugh, I have  _homework_ ,” Hayley complains, not bothering to add that she’s also a little traumatized by all of today’s revelations when Quinn just raises an eyebrow and looks at her for a moment.  ”Okay, okay.  Fine.  If you don’t _want_  me to become the next president, I guess that’s totally okay.  I’ll just have to pray that I am in fact flexible and that some stud like Finn Hudson marries me when I get—”

Rachel’s foot kicks her squarely in the ass, and she laughs before heading out of the room.

There’s some more laughter when she rounds the corner again with the dog on a leash, and when she looks into their bedroom, her parents are both crying about something—and kissing, of course, because they’re always kissing.

Other people’s parents fight, and that’s totally cool.

She’s glad that hers got all the fighting out of the way when they were teenagers, though.


End file.
